General News

'Stuart Little' Livin' Large

By:
Martin Grove

Jul 31, 2001 | 11:30am EDT

Hollywood got through the first weekend of the new year in slightly better shape than studio insiders expected.

It took just $11.5 million to put Columbia's "Stuart Little" in first place, making it the weekend's only Top Five film to crack double digits. Lackluster tracking scores last week had suggested that the new year might kick off with none of the Top Five films doing better than single-digit grosses.

Columbia's PG-rated family comedy held on to the top spot in its fourth week, still laughing with an estimated $11.5 million (-28%) at 2,979 theaters (+79 theaters, $3,806 per theater). Its total is approximately $95.6 million. Directed by Rob Minkoff, "Stuart Little" stars Geena Davis, Hugh Laurie and Jonathan Lipnicki.

"It'll hit $100 million either Friday or Saturday of next week," Sony Pictures Releasing President Jeff Blake said Sunday morning. "With the holiday week, we won't do far from this figure for the four days. And there are no other kids' pictures coming in until Feb. 11 (Buena Vista/Disney's animated "The Tigger Movie").

"The hard part is getting them (family films) going. Once a picture like this starts rolling, it adds up pretty quick if everything goes well. We're thrilled. We're thinking (it will get to about) $130 million, at this point in time, somewhere in that range."

"Stuart Little" stands to turn into a franchise for Sony. "I know they're working hard at 'Stuart Little II.' And I think that's effort well spent," Blake said.

"Ripley" appears to be a prime candidate for Oscar nominations, having received five Golden Globe nominations -- best picture/drama, best actor/drama (Damon), best supporting actor ( Law), best director (Minghella) and best score (Gabriel Yared).

"I think this one really depends on the (Oscar) nominations," Paramount Distribution President Wayne Lewellen said Sunday morning. "I've got it at $80-90 million. But if we get (Oscar nominations for) Best Picture, Director and, maybe, one of the actors and, of course, if we win something, it could get to $100 million (or more).

"With a picture like this, it can be very helpful."

Asked who the audience for "Ripley" is, Lewellen replied, "It's older females, primarily, but obviously they bring the men with them. It's more female than male.

"But it's playing pretty well across the board."

Warner Bros. and Castle Rock Entertainment's R-rated prison death row drama "The Green Mile" was a close third in its fifth week, up one notch with an estimated $9.7 million (-17%) at 2,678 theaters (-197 theaters; $3,622 per theater). Its total is approximately $91.3 million.

Warner Bros.' R-rated drama "Any Given Sunday" rose one peg to fourth place in its third week with an estimated $9.02 million (-23%) at 2,505 theaters (theater count unchanged, $3,599 per theater). Its total is approximately $59.5 million. Directed by Oliver Stone, it stars Al Pacino, Dennis Quaid, Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz.

"It just is going to depend on the next few weeks -- somewhere between $80-100 million," Warners' Fellman said.

Rounding out the Top Five was DreamWorks' PG-rated sci-fi fantasy comedy "Galaxy Quest," up one peg in its third week with a surprisingly strong estimated $8.3 million (-14%) at 2,450 theaters (+8 theaters; $3,388 per theater). Its total is approximately $38.8 million, heading for $60 million to $70 million in domestic theaters. Directed by Dean Parisot, it stars Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickman.

"It is now the second-highest-grossing animated film in our history (after 'The Lion King')," Buena Vista Distribution President Chuck Viane said Sunday morning. "And it's the third-highest-grossing picture we ever released -- behind 'Lion King' and 'Sixth Sense.'"

Looking ahead, Viane said, "Based on this, we'll probably be at $228-$230 million by the time we come out of the Martin Luther King weekend. And then it'll just go and go until it's over."

New Line's R-rated drama "Magnolia" went wide in its fourth week, placing seventh with a promising estimated $6.57 million at 1,034 theaters (+1,025 theatres, $6,359 per theater). Its total is approximately $7.5 million.

"Magnolia" received two Golden Globe nominations, including best supporting actor (Cruise) and original song ("Save Me," music and lyrics by Aimee Mann).

"We're happy," New Line Executive Vice President, Distribution, David Tuckerman said Sunday morning. "Some people are going to have us (estimated) lower. The difference is the last three weeks -- our second Sunday was bigger than the Saturday that weekend, and the Sunday the first weekend was 90% of the Saturday, and the Sunday the third weekend was over 90% of the Saturday.

"So everybody's figuring us at like sixtysome percent. Sunday should be almost what Saturday is (for this film)."

Like other three-hour films, "Magnolia" tends to do well on Sundays because people have the time available that day to see something that long.

"You have to make a commitment to see a three-hour movie," Tuckerman said.

"I sat last night and watched it in Santa Monica," Tuckerman said. "You're basically getting the mid-20s and above. Both (males and females). We didn't do exit polls the first three weeks because we figured we got (Anderson's) fans. We're doing them tonight, so we'll be smarter (Monday)."

Asked if people like the film, Tuckerman said, "They come out stunned. Half of them love it, and half of them hate it. And then they talk about it the next day. The ones that hated it talk about it -- and you can tell they've changed (their opinion)."

Will New Line go wider with the film?

"I think we're going to wait to see what next weekend brings," he said. "I have to tell you, every market that this picture opened in, there's huge pockets of strength. The 'white bread' towns didn't work as well. But within those markets (there is strength). Seattle didn't look good, then one of the best runs in the country came out of Seattle. It's really strange. In Canada, they love it."

Buena Vista/Touchstone's "Bicentennial Man" was eighth in its fourth week with a quiet estimated $5.2 million (-37%) at 2,612 theaters (-155 theate s, $1,992 per theater). Its total is approximately $47.1 million. Directed by Chris Columbus, it stars Robin Williams.

Buena Vista/Touchstone's R-rated youth-appeal comedy "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo" was ninth in its fifth week with a less funny estimated $5 million (-13%) at 2,066 theaters (-96 theaters, $2,403 per theater). Its total is approximately $54 million. Directed by Mike Mitchell, it stars Rob Schneider.

"I have hesitated to say this, but I think now it's probably a $70 million picture," BV's Viane said. "The one picture we would like to emulate is 'Ace Ventura,' which did $72 million. The minute we hit $60 million (after Martin Luther King weekend), that's the number we'll be chasing."

"With the addition of 484 screens this weekend, we only dropped 14% on a per-screen basis," Miramax Senior Vice President, Marketing, David Kaminow said Sunday morning. "We were hoping for $3,000 a screen this weekend, and the fact that we did $4,000 is great. Even more encouraging are theaters that are in their third, fourth and fifth week, dwelling on this. It's taken a little time for the movie to get its legs, but (that's what we're seeing now)."

Kaminow pointed to a number of examples, including, "in New York, the Angelika, in its fifth week, is up 73%. In L.A., in Century City, we're up 136% in Week 5. The Sunset Five (in West Hollywood) is up 53% in Week 5. The Lido in Newport Beach is up 30% in Week 5. In Pasadena, the Playhouse is up 16% in Week 3.

"This is what's going on around the country. The movie's really taking hold and receiving great word of mouth."

Universal's R-rated drama "The Hurricane" expanded in its second week, placing 14th with an encouraging estimated $2.45 million at 159 theaters (+148 theaters, $15,405 per theater). Its total is approximately $3.1 million. Directed by Norman Jewison, it stars Denzel Washington as wrongly imprisoned boxing champion Rubin "Hurricane" Carter.

"Hurricane," which is generating Oscar buzz, received three Golden Globe nominations -- best picture, best actor/drama (Washington) and best director (Jewison).

Columbia's R-rated drama "The End of the Affair" expanded in its sixth week, placing 18th with an unromantic estimated $0.65 million at 92 theaters (+34 theaters, $7,065 per theater). Its total is approximately $2.4 million. Directed by Neil Jordan, it stars Ralph Fiennes, Julianne Moore and Stephen Rea.

"We're intending to go wide to about 700 or so theaters on Jan. 21," Sony's Jeff Blake said Sunday. "We're certainly performing (as) one of the better limiteds consistently, so hopefully we'll be ready to go on Golden Globe weekend."

WEEKEND COMPARISONS

Key films -- those grossing more than $500,000 for the weekend - took in approximately $93.79 million last weekend, up approximately 11.04% from $84.46 million for the comparable weekend last year.

Last weekend's key film gross was down approximately 15.4% from the $108.31 million that key films took in during the prior weekend.

Last year, Buena Vista's third week of "A Civil Action" was first with $15.16 million at 1,802 theaters ($8,415 per theater); and Universal's third weekend of "Patch Adams" was second with $12.69 million at 2,770 theaters, $4,580 per theater). The top two films one year ago grossed $27.9 million. This year, the top two films grossed an estimated $21.3 million.

STUDIO MARKET SHARES

Based on business by key films, last weekend's top six distributors were the following:

Warner Bros. was first with two films ("The Green Mile" and "Any Given Sunday") grossing an estimated $18.72 million or 20% of the market.